Stephen King: On Writing (or in our case photography)

Here are a few choice quotes from Stephen King’s book called On Writing:

Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless; when you find something at which you are talented, you do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading, or watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator are happy. Perhaps even ecstatic.

I also recently finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book called the Outliers(read it if you haven’t it’s worth your time) where he breaks down the careers of people who have been successful in their given professions. One of his arguments is that these people, while having some natural talent have also devoted 10,000 hours to their given craft. How much are you willing to devote to your love of photography?

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

I know for me this is true. My head clouds with self-doubt. Often the moment is enough to even keep me from starting or moving ahead with a project. Just this week I started shooting a personal project again that I started months ago. People saying no always served as a roadblock and they still do, but today I plan to stay the course and not let a few hurdles sidetrack my curisoty or my goal.